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Project MDD ATX

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Dec 27, 2014
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Motherboard
Asus Z97-K
CPU
Intel i5 4690k
Graphics
MSI GTX 970
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
Classic Mac
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Mobile Phone
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Finns MDD to Full ATX conversion

Dear tonymacx86-users,

let me present to you: My first Casemod project.

I have been in love with the powermac G4 for ages, but since i got to late into the apple-game to see it as an modern computer (My first Mac was in 2008-ish Mac Mini) i never got to own one.

But live has it's ways, and so stubled upon a MDD G4-case (!) on Ebay for just 10€.
Having read alot about case-modding G4s und the raised difficulty of specially the MDD, I took the challenge and bought it.

So let me present to you, THE VICTIM :angel:

KzFDuFm.jpg

I bought it without any electrical components (PSU. etc.), just the bare, but complete case.
I have allready stripped out the interior to make shure I have the most space I can get.

k32Waov.jpgJn7sYkj.jpg

Instead of the classical way of mounting a matx motherboard to the door, I want to mount it to the backwall, similar to the way G5-coversions are made.
The mainboard will be the Asus Z97-k Full ATX which i'm using right now. Since I have a very limited budget, I want to reuse as many parts as possible, specially because my current system is only 8 Months old.

At my research i found Minihacks MDD-mod, which goes in the same direction, allthough i wont mount the PSU behind the motherboard tray. This is mainly due to my wide graphics card (MSI GTX 970) which would'nt fit with the PCI-Brackets so near the Door.

I imagine the internal layout like this:
sGEybHj.jpg
Note: The bright green shapes are new openings I'm going to cut into the bottom of the case.

The PSU will stand on the narrow side where the Plug goes in, sucking air from the Mesh at the front and blowing it out at the bottom. The Motherboard will be Mounted "upside down" on a premade Motherboard tray which will (hopefully) cover the whole back and includes a 120mm fan Mount.
on the bottom infront of the motherboard will be a whole for a 120 or 140mm fan, sucking air from the bottom nd blowing towards the CPU-Cooler.
I figured this would be beneficial, since I'm using a big air cooler (Thermalright HR-02 Rev A) and the Psu is blocking the airflow from the front.

Last but not least I photoshopped one of Minihacks pictures to illustrate the backview of my concept.

ZAl0kdQ.png
Minihack: I hope its OK for you if I use the Picture, otherwise I'll take it down inmediatly



I will post more when I get my hands on an old case to dismantle for the motherboard-tray.

Till then, I thank you very much for reading my post and I wish you a nice day. :)



Update Nr. 1 is live now!

09.08.15
Update Nr. 2 is live now!

10.08.15
Update Nr. 3 is live now!
 
Wow! This should be a freaking sweet project when it's done, great idea and planning so far! :D
 
Wow! This should be a freaking sweet project when it's done, great idea and planning so far! :D

Thanks very much! I really hope the project turns out like i imagined. :thumbup:
 
Update Nr. 1

I have ordered a case to cannibalize to back-panel and motherboard-tray from.
It's the Cooltek X1 (Link), a simple Case without to much "bling bling" and sturdy looking parts. I almost feel bad for ripping that thing apart.

600045615_gr52055a1821515.jpg600045615-1_gr52055a19a129b.jpg600045615-2_gr52055a1b8ebd1.jpg



At first I didn't wanted to buy a brand new case and just "upcycle" an old one from ebay, but the ones I found which where in my pricerange (less is better) where often very old and had no space for fans or holes near the pci-brackets.
I now paid 25€, which is dirt cheap for such a promising looking case.

It should arrive between Wednesday and Friday, so now it's time for some waiting. :beachball:

I also got some aluminium angle-brackets and some sheets from my father, which will be used to strengthen the case and provide more mounting points for the mobo-tray.
 
Update Nr. 2

The first packages with supplies arrived.
Since the Donor-Case doesn't come with any fans and the 140s from my old case don't fit (120mm exhaust), I had to order a separate fan to go in the Back of the G4. After some mild research I came to the conclusion that the "be quiet! Pure Wings 2" are the right ones.
I also ordered a Slot bracket with two screwed in USB 3.0 ports. This will go somewhere as a front I/O, maybe behind the drive doors.
sNw2GQI.jpg




Now the work starts. :cool:

First step: Disassembly of the donor case. I just had to take the side panels of, and drill all rivets out that where holding to back and motherboard tray.

4ghdeG3.jpgme4UkXs.jpg

Second Step: I completely took the cheap case apart. I'm planning on reusing as many parts as possible.

And after all that it came to this:

igVSd2r.jpg
I just had to cut the piece, holding the PSU off and I had a clean and simple motherboard tray.

The next update will follow tomorrow, you can expect some massive progress.

I'm already a lot further than on those pictures, but I have to take better pictures first. :p

Till the next update :wave:,
finn890
 
If you have the PSU blowing out the bottom and an intake fan right next to it you'll probably be sucking in the PSU's exhaust. You might want to move the fan back slightly and / or make a scoop that faces to the back away from the exiting PSU air.
 
If you have the PSU blowing out the bottom and an intake fan right next to it you'll probably be sucking in the PSU's exhaust. You might want to move the fan back slightly and / or make a scoop that faces to the back away from the exiting PSU air.

Thank you for the tip, I already took it into consideration! :D
 
Update Nr. 3

The work continues.. The next step was to cut any ledges and pieces that blocked the Tray to be slid in place in the very back of the case. My father helped me a lot at this part since he is very experienced with the angle-grinder.
IMG_5029.jpg
I first cut the door-ledges, so i could measure out where to place the next cuts to accommodate the I/O.
This was quite tricky in some areas, and i can imagine that less powerful tools might have had a hard time cutting through the steel. I'm still amused how extremely sturdy it is build. :thumbup:

Next step was to fit the Tray in.
IMG_5031.jpg
It took many cuts and a whole lot of filing, but it fits!
IMG_5050.jpg
(Please ignore the PC in there ;) )

After the cutting was done, I put my PC onto the Tray to test fit it with all components installed and to get the PSU and fan mounting right. Since I'm using a normal ATX-Powersupply, the Space inside gets crammed really fast. I'm thinking about getting myself a SFX-modell, but I first want to try how it all works out. This is already on my list for the next version of the Rig (but first if have to fiscal the First one :D)
IMG_5049.jpg
My cooler is a Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev A. It is huge (and good), but it actually fits inside, after cutting an opening in the door for the heat-pipes. The GTX 970 is a little long to, so the PSU has to stay below it. The power supply sucks its Air from the Stock intake at the Front/Bottom and blows it upwards.

IMG_5052.jpg

To get more control over the airflow, I made a divider from Plexiglas with an integrated fan-mount. This way I get more Airflow in the GPU-Area and have a way to get the PSU-Air out of the case. As you can (hopefully) see, I also installed (not yet) another 140mm fan at the bottom of the case, blowing on the Ram und giving the cooler some more fresh air. Behind the cooler sits a 120mm "be quiet! pure wings 2" which acts as an exhaust fan (kind of "push-pull"), So I will hopefully get moderate airflow.

Tomorrow a box full of screws and nuts should arive, so I can start mounting the Tray and the other components. I decided to use screws over rivets, so I can disassemble it more easily. for example, the CPU-wire is incredible hard/impossible to get to.

I'll get you updated once I made some more progress and the machine is hopefully running. :wave:
Till then,
finn890
 
HELP!!! I have the same motherboard as you and I need to know what drivers and settings you used. I want to be able to boot up without having to type anything in. Thanks!!!
 
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